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Course Description:

Fringe locations are frequently described as being at the interface between the urban and the rural. They have been described variously as suburbs, commuter belt, peri-urban zones, urban and rural hinterlands, edge cities, or urban sprawl. They are major sites of population change, economic growth, and dynamic social change. They incorporate a vast range of land uses, from residential to commercial, industrial, amenity and agricultural.
In an Irish context, many fringe locations have emerged over the last decade or so, throughout a period of relative economic prosperity, followed now by the impacts of more recent economic decline, with dramatic results in terms of the built environment and the social and community impacts. Overzoning, the subprime mortgage market collapse and ghost estates are part of this legacy. The international context similarly reveals forms of fringe development driven by processes that appear to have little to do with sustainable planning and development, and much to do with various forms of capital accumulation. Any study of the fringe therefore involves a focus on issues of land use, planning, zoning, tensions around urban and rural functions, questions on participation and power in land-use decision-making, the social and community dimensions of the fringe.

Course Aims

This course aims to:

establish what is meant by the fringe; how it is categorized at different spatial scales; the problems and limitations of applying urban and rural definitions

explore the processes and drivers of change that shape fringe locations, e.g. planning legislation and development strategies, land use, population pressures, lifestyle choices (particularly residential choice), availability of forms of capital (real estate, finance, etc.); who wins and who loses from such development outcomes

examine how these processes operate in different international contexts

explore how the fringe is evolving in an Irish context, particularly against the backdrop of initial economic boom through to the current situation of rapid decline, seen notably in residential development (e.g. estate development in the fringe)

develop students’ ability to critically interpret from a geographical perspective the ways in which the fringe is socially produced, in particular the form of the built environment.

Course Outcomes

At the end of this module, students should be able to:

outline what constitutes the urban-rural fringe and discuss the main definitions

apply a range of conceptual and theoretical approaches to identifying and explaining processes that drive fringe developments

distinguish between the perspectives of a range of stakeholders, and explain how these impact on how the fringe evolves as a particular space

evaluate the social dimensions of fringe development, including the significance of community impacts from the form of the built and natural environment

Method of Assessment

a) Mid-term assessment = 40% b) 2 hour, end of semester exam = 60%

Detailed course structure and readings

Further details of course structure and key readings available on Blackboard